Tuesday, May 8, 2012

NeoWiz Restructuring, Rockman Online Development Affected

According to a report from the Digital Times, Rockman Online developer NeoWiz is currently undergoing a massive restructure -- reducing its PC game workforce from 300 to a mere 50 employees. The company intends to refocus its efforts from PC gaming to mobile games.

Rockman Online's development (if it was apparent enough) is in limbo. The article says NeoWiz is eying its affiliate company GAMEON Studio to handle production in light of the restructure. However, there's also the possibility Capcom could pull the Rockman Online project altogether. The outcome rests on negotiations, it seems.

So, yeah; it's not looking too good. Mind you, nothing is certain right now but I'd definitely brace for the worst. Even if the game was never meant to leave Korea, I'd hate to see a third game cancelled. Sheesh.

I've still not fully understood the way this game was pitching or pacing itself. It'd be a shame to see it go belly up before I figure out what exactly any promotional material for MMO has to do with the actual game.

To be honest, even if the cancellation is not official yet, it was expected. I didn't make any sesnse to cancel Universe and Legedns 3 and keep this exclusive game for Korea in development, but we will see if it's cancelled or not.

The anime trailers were fantastic and the gameplay didn't look that bad.

This doesn't bode well. Even if Neowiz manages to get the project over to their affiliate, having another studio finish something tends not to go too well... then again the only time I can recall in recent history was Gearbox taking Duke Nukem Forever (Gearbox is good, but they're not miracle workers).

I can't say I know a lot about Rockman Online (really, we never saw much to say what this game was going to be like exactly) but what we did see looked pretty polished, so even handing it off to an affiliate, it should theoretically be in good shape.

However, this also looks like something Capcom would be ready to make a jump on and pull the plug over. I don't intend to sound like I'm saying Capcom is anti-Mega Man, but it would certainly do little to convince anyone otherwise if they pulled this...

And Korea only or not, if it isn't/wasn't to be region locked, I'd have been up for giving it a shot (Provided it would be using the standard "Free to play, pay for addons/additional content" format, I'd definitely have given it a shot. (Or will, if by some miracle it's released.)

There was nothing wrong with Mega Man Universe or Rockman online. They both looked super solid. They just needed polish. After powered up, how can anyone say a damn thing about mmu's art style? Holy hell, some of the fans are really jaded about mmu.

Shame. If this came stateside, I definitely would have tried my hand at it. It really looked interesting, with its neat art-style. Not to mention those sweet animated trailers.

*sigh* It's almost certain Capcom will pull the plug on RO. If they didn't want to risk test-marketing Legends 3, they certainly won't risk continuing with a game whose developers are undergoing such a major staff reduction and market shift.

I had faith that the game wasn't going to be cancelled BECAUSE Capcom wasn't handling the development. As far as I could tell, this was the last chance Capcom had of putting something out this year - a MegaMan MMO wouldn't have been a bad way to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Now, with the exception of Project X Zone, there's nothing AT ALL in terms of MegaMan games anymore. Simply unbelievable.

@anti-mmu-artstyle-anon: Roll didn't look angry, she was cute. You're looking at a unique artstyle and dismissing it simply because it's not what you're used to seeing when it comes to Mega Man. I'm so sick and tired of seeing people put down MMU's fresh and creative artstyle.

How could Capcom be the one pulling the plug on this thing? They weren't the ones making it.

I have mixed feelings about this game. I liked the art style and the series crossover aspects, but I don't like some of the design decisions they went with. For example, having every character be a clone of X, Zero or Duo. Why couldn't they have a system like City of Heroes/Villains where you build a personalized character out of a wide array of component parts?

Even if the game does go live, it's unlikely it will ever come out here so I guess the game's uncertain future won't affect me either way.

@anti-mmu-artstyle-anon: How is it generic, exactly? I haven't seen a style like that in much of anything. It seems somewhat reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim, but outside of that, I haven't seen a style that looks anything like that. Still, if you consider THAT style "generic", than what would you consider any of the usual artstyles that Mega Man games seem to have? I think character designs speak more loudly than artstyles, anyway, and Mega Man and Roll's seem to fit with MMU's artstyle very well.